# How much does an AI video ad cost to make?

**Short answer:** The video for a 30-second AI ad costs about $20.50 at list price on Seedance 2.0 at 1080p with one retake in four, and under $5.47 on a budget model at 720p. The bigger costs are the creative work and the variants you test, not the render.

URL: https://arc.katechon.technology/answers/how-much-does-an-ai-video-ad-cost
Updated: 2026-10-18

## Render cost for common ad lengths

Video cost with 25% retakes, list prices quoted 2026-10-17:

| Model | 15-second ad | 30-second ad | 60-second ad |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Seedance 2.0 Mini 720p | $2.28 | $4.55 | $9.11 |
| Veo 3.1 Fast 1080p | $2.25 | $4.50 | $9.00 |
| Seedance 2.0 1080p | $10.25 | $20.50 | $40.99 |
| Veo 3.1 1080p | $7.50 | $15.00 | $30.00 |
| Seedance 2.5 1080p | $13.92 | $27.84 | $55.67 |

Model prices on this page are Atlas Cloud list prices quoted 2026-10-17 with its free /calculate endpoint, as published in our [AI video price index](https://arc.katechon.technology/ai-video-price-index). (Source: Atlas Cloud model catalog and /calculate list prices, https://www.atlascloud.ai/models, checked 2026-10-17)

## In Arc

A 60-second ad built from six 10-second clips on Seedance 2.0 at 1080p is 10,134 credits, plus about 130 credits for ten product and storyboard images. On the Starter plan ($12.90, 1,800 credits) that is more than a month's allowance; on 720p Seedance 2.0 Fast the same ad is 1,356 credits. A 2,000-credit top-up costs $15.

## Testing variants is where ad budgets go

Ads are rarely made once. A typical test is three or four hooks on the same body, each in 9:16 and 16:9. Only the changed shots need new video: with six 5-second shots per ad and one new opening shot per hook, four hooks cost one full ad plus three extra shots, about $30.75 on Seedance 2.0 at 1080p. Re-rendering every variant from scratch would cost $81.99. Native vertical and horizontal versions are separate renders, because cropping 16:9 to 9:16 keeps only about a third of the frame.

## What else goes into an ad

- Product references: photos of the real product so packaging, colour and shape stay on-model.
- Variants: a second hook, a shorter cut, a 9:16 and a 16:9 version. Reusing references and storyboards makes these cheap.
- Voice-over and music, and captions for sound-off viewing.
- Media spend, which no generator includes.

## Where Katechon Arc fits

Arc's ad projects start from a brief and product photos, keep the product consistent with references, and let you storyboard the hook before paying for video.

Arc does not import product links, has no avatar library and does not run or measure campaigns; tools built for e-commerce ads do those things.

## Related answers

- [How do you make a video ad with AI?](https://arc.katechon.technology/answers/how-to-make-an-ai-video-ad): Start from a brief and real product photos, write a hook-first script of five to eight shots, lock product references so packaging stays…
- [What is the best AI video ad generator?](https://arc.katechon.technology/answers/what-is-the-best-ai-video-ad-generator): It depends on the ad: for e-commerce ads from a product link with avatars, a tool built for that wins; for storyboarded brand or story ads…
- [How do you make an AI product video from product photos?](https://arc.katechon.technology/answers/how-to-make-an-ai-product-video-from-photos): Use the photos as reference images, not as the first frame only: shoot the product on a plain background from three or four angles, attach…
- [How much does one finished minute of AI video cost?](https://arc.katechon.technology/answers/how-much-does-a-minute-of-ai-video-cost): One finished minute cost us $2.26 in video on average across 195 episodes, mostly on Seedance 2.0 Mini and Fast at 720p.

## Sources

- Atlas Cloud model catalog and /calculate list prices: [www.atlascloud.ai/models](https://www.atlascloud.ai/models), checked 2026-10-17